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hague conference on private international law | conférence de la haye de droit international privé
Question 2 In which countries does the Apostille Convention apply?

The Apostille Convention only applies if both the

country where the public document was issued and
the country where the public document is to be used
are parties to the Convention. A comprehensive and
updated list of the countries where the Apostille
Convention applies, or will soon apply, is available in
the Apostille Section of the Hague Conference website
– look for the link entitled Status table of the Apostille
Convention.

question 2 The Status table of the Apostille Convention has two

parts: the first part lists countries that have joined the
Apostille Convention and are also Members of the Hague
Conference (i.e., the Organisation that developed the
Convention); the second part lists countries that have

In which joined the Apostille Convention but are not Members of the
Hague Conference. In other words, a country does not
need to be a Member of the Hague Conference to be
countries does party to the Apostille Convention.

the Apostille When checking the Status table of the Apostille

Convention, always keep the following in mind:
Û Do not confuse the
Status table of the Apostille
1 Check if both the country where the public Convention with other lists
Convention apply? document was issued and the country where the
document is to be used are listed in either part of the
of countries on the Hague
Conference website, such
Status table. as the list of Members of
2 It does not matter whether a country appears in the the Hague Conference on
first or the second part of the Status table – the Private International Law or
Convention applies equally to Members and non- status tables of other Hague
www.hcch.net > Apostille Section Members of the Organisation. Conventions. A country may
3 Check the date of entry into force of the Convention be party to one or several
for both countries. Look for the column entitled ‘EIF’ of the many other Hague
– only after that date can the relevant country issue Conventions but not to the
and receive Apostilles. Apostille Convention, or a
4 There are different ways for a country to become a country may be party to the
party to the Convention (ratification, accession, succession Apostille Convention without
or continuation), but these differences have no impact on being party to any other Hague
how the Convention operates in a country. Conventions.
5 If one of the countries has acceded to the
Convention, check that the other country has not objected
to that accession; to find out, see the column entitled
‘Type’ next to the acceding country’s name and check if
there is a link entitled ‘A**’ – if so, click on it and check
whether the other country is listed.
6 Check whether the Convention applies to the entire
territory of a country or only to parts of it; to find out,
see if there is a link in the columns entitled ‘Ext’ and
‘Res/D/N’ – if so, click on it and read the relevant
information.

www.hcch.net > Apostille Section